Feb. 15, 2008

State of the Oceans

Around the world, the oceans are in trouble, with declining fish stocks, disappearing coral reefs, and changing water chemistry. This week, researchers published a new map highlighting the human impact on oceans worldwide from 17 different activities, such as fishing, climate change, and pollution. âOur results show that when these and other individual impacts are summed up, the big picture looks much worse than I imagine most people expected," said Ben Halpern, lead author of the paper published this week in the journal Science.

The map shows that the most heavily affected waters in the world include large areas of the North Sea, the South and East China Seas, the Caribbean Sea, the east coast of North America, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea, and several regions in the western Pacific. The least affected areas are largely near the poles. In this hour, Ira and guests take a look at the state of the world's ocean ecosystems -- and their inhabitants -- with some of the world's top ocean experts. The prognosis isn't good, but is it hopeless?

We're broadcasting live from Boston, Massachusetts, the site of this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. If you're in Boston, stop by!